"Praying For The Laborers"

"Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest."
Luke 10:2

     In two places Jesus uses the same message to His disciples: Pray for laborers to be sent out into the harvest. Jesus spoke these words at different times, but the circumstances were the same. Multitudes of lost souls were coming to see Him, and He told His disciples to pray to the Lord to send laborers. These laborers would be sent from the Lord. This means that they would have God’s blessing and His power to accomplish such a major task. Any farmer knows that harvest time means hustle and hard work. Any of the ripe crops that are not gathered will perish. Harvesters need strength to finish the work. When the harvest season comes, farmers need extra help to get the crops in. When we see the fields of men ripening like they are today, we must go to God in prayer for more laborers!
     How important is faithfulness in prayer? Dr. Wilbur Chapman often told of his experience when, as a young man, he went to become pastor of a church in Philadelphia. After his first sermon, an old gentleman said to him, "You're pretty young to be pastor of this church. But you preach the Gospel, and I'm going to help you all I can." Dr. Chapman thought, "Here's a crank." But the man continued: "I'm going to pray for you that you may have the Holy Spirit's power upon you. Two others have covenanted to join with me in prayer for you." Dr. Chapman said, "I didn't feel so bad when I learned he was going to pray for me. The 3 became 10, the 10 became 20, the 20 became 50, and the 50 became 200 who met before every service to pray that the Holy Spirit might come upon me. I always went into my pulpit feeling that I would have the anointing in answer to the prayers of those who had faithfully prayed for me. It was a joy to preach! The result was that we received 1,100 into our church by conversion in three years, 600 of whom were men. It was the fruit of the Holy Spirit in answer to prayer!"
     Oh, that we as a people would see the need to pray for the laborers! We need to see this great harvest in our midst. Let us pray for God’s sending power.

Study verses: Hebrews 2:9; James 5:10,11; Jude 1:7; Ps 55:22; Matt 8:31; Luke 22:15; Luke 23:39-43; Acts 9:16; Rom 8:17; I Peter 1:6,7

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Previous devotions

"The Blessing of Burdens" - February 16, 2011
"Living In Death" - February 9, 2011
"A Loving Church" - February 2, 2011
"Unnecessary Burdens" - January 26, 2011
"A Greater Love" - January 19, 2011
"Investing In Time" - January 12, 2011
"Making It Right" - January 7, 2011
"Forever Faithful" - December 29, 2010
"Pondering the Christmas Miracle" - December 22, 2010
"The First Christmas Carol" - December 15, 2010
"An Unspeakable Gift" - December 8, 2010
"The Big News" - December 1, 2010
"Thank You" - November 24, 2010
"Walking In Truth" - November 17, 2010
"Useless Pillars" - November 10, 2010
"Unfounded Fears" - October 27, 2010
"God Is Able" - October 20, 2010
"The Blessings of the Lord" - October 13, 2010
"Treasure" - October 6, 2010
"Spirit vs. Flesh" - September 29, 2010
"The Rock Higher Than I" - September 23, 2010
"Lo, I Am With You Alway" - September 3, 2010

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